The President's Address. By Lord Avebury. 145 



stigma be pollinated with pollen from the same flower, on plants 

 in a garden, no result follows. On the other hand, offshoots in 

 the form of numerous bulbils are produced by L. bulhiferum, 

 by means of which it is propagated and dispersed. In several 

 valleys of the Central Alps it does not flower at all, and thus 

 obviously depends entirely upon its bulbils for propagation. 



Allium {A. Ampeloprasum). — The fruit is a trigonous 3-celled 

 capsule, dehiscing at the dorsal suture. One or two seeds in each 

 cell come to maturity ; they are more or less acutely angled, 

 conforming to the cavity of the cell. The testa is membranous, 

 black, and more or less wrinkled. It is generally carried up on 

 the tip of the cotyledon during germination. One variety has 

 bulbils at the base of the umbel. 



A. ursinum. — According to Scott Elliot, the seed of this 

 species germinates at the surface of the earth, but is then carried 

 down to a depth of 3-4 mm. by a peculiar elongation of the stalk 

 of the cotyledon. 



Paris. — In P. quadrifolia the ovary is a bluish-black or dull 

 reddish colour, which perhaps attracts flies by its resemblance to a 

 piece of decaying meat. 



Asparagus.— In A. officinalis the fruit is also a berry, globose, 

 smooth, shining, red, and 3-celled, with three to six seeds. 

 These are large, flattened on the ventral aspect, hard, black, and 

 smooth to the naked eye. Their dispersal is evidently due to 

 birds. 



Scilla (S. nutans, or festalis), the Bluebell Scilla.— The fruit is 

 a 3-celled, many seeded capsule, dehiscing from the apex about 

 half way down, so that it forms a cup, out of which the seeds are 

 jerked by the wind, or by passing animals. As is so often the 

 case in plants having such an arrangement, the seeds are black and 

 glossy. 



Ornithogalum (0. nutans). — In this species the arrangement 

 resembles that in Scilla nutans. The seeds, as in that species, are 

 black and glossy. 



Narthecium (N. ossifragum). — In this species also the fruit is a 



Fig. 25. — Seed of Narthecium ossifragum. (From "Notes on 

 British Flowering Plants." Macmillan & Co.) 



capsule, which dehisces at the summit, and the seeds are jerked 

 out as in the preceding species. They are, however, very different, 

 being small, narrowly oblong, striate and pale yellow. The testa 

 at each end is prolonged into a long, slender, colourless tail. The 

 central part is only 1 ■ 5 mm. in length, while that of the whole 

 seed is 8-9 mm. (fig. 25). 



